Month: March, 2016

This week has been a happy barrage of the usual lessons, dinners, phone calls and everything else. Plus, I also had my first sickness as a missionary. I have never really had a cold, fever or cough during my mission, except for now.

As a missionary I spend a lot of time thinking about my Savior and His sacrifice for me and all of us. During this Easter season especially I encourage each of us to “Follow Him and Find New Life” https://www.mormon.org/easter

Happy Easter. I love you all!!

Love,

Meredith

Alma 7: 11-12

11And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Isaiah 53:3-12
(Isaiah speaks about the Messiah—His humiliation and sufferings are described—He makes His soul an offering for sin….)

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 ¶Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 ¶Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

This was the last week of transfer. Hard to believe I only have 10 weeks left on my mission. But I try not to think about it because I refuse to lose pace! Monday for p-day we visited the famous St. Joseph`s Oratory. It`s beautiful. The mission myth is that everyone who serves on the island who visits it gets transferred, but with only a transfer (6 weeks) and a month I felt safe.

On Tuesday a member came with us to a lesson that ended up being cancelled. We asked her if she wouldn’t mind coming with us to drop by to visit some other people. We ended up being driven around Montréal for the last part of the day by this kind member, visiting people that we had been wanting to visit but who are hard to get to without a car with GPS. It was so nice. On Sunday the same thing happened. Members who love and care about missionary work really are the best. I want to be a really faithful member missionary so badly when I get back.
Wednesday we had another training meeting and after that we had an exchange. For this one we were going to the other area instead of having the exchange in our area. I was the one that went to Laval. It was fun to be back on the North Shore, at least for a day. As a side note, I have been compiling recipes from my mission to use later on, and this exchange provided me with a couple more so I was pretty happy about that as well. Thursday we had a couple appointments after Weekly Planning. Due to some recent things that happened in the mission we are on hold for talking to people in the metro. It is not permanent but it is a little odd to just talk with your companion every time you enter a metro station. I love you all so much!

Omni 1:26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

I don`t have a lot of time to write today, but I just want to share one experience that I had on Friday. I went with my companion to an appointment with a mission doctor that she had scheduled at one of the chapels in Montréal. I was all alone in the Relief Society room, which is an interesting situation for a missionary as normally you are constantly with your companion. I was sitting there and had a lot on my mind. But after a while I realized I had to do something to pass the hour so I started playing the piano. Almost right after I started playing, a girl walked in. I couldn`t really tell who it was at first, but she gasped, and I realized it was one of the great members I had served with in one of my old areas. I was so happy because I had been wanting to see her and her family for some time but on a mission it is not usually manageable. She told me her mom was there too, and so I ran out and there she was! It was such a beautiful reunion, and I was so grateful for it. Every time I think about it it brings a smile to my face. I know that God cares about us, even though we are imperfect and go astray but he is mindful of us, always!

Monday, for p-day, my companion and I ate at a great Montreal smoked meat sandwhich place and hung out in Old Montréal until we did our emails at the location we had reserved next to the mission office. We visited the Cathedral in Old Montréal, and it is beautiful. A lot of the images inside are of the first Catholic missionaries in Québec, and so it was cool to see that as a current missionary in Québec, albeit of a different branch of Christianity.

Tuesday we had interviews with the mission president. We were on exchange, which means that we worked with different companions, and got a bit lost around Montréal (because that always has to happen on exchange). It would have been a nice scenic drive around downtown if we weren`t so stressed.

Wednesday we had a normal day of appointments after District Meeting.
Thursday we did weekly planning and had some meetings. Friday was another exchange after mission leadership Council. After the meeting we had lunch and cookies made by Sister Patrick. Saturday we stopped by to see some members and investigators.

Sunday we had Church and a delicious Haitian dinner with members. We are speaking a lot of French and hearing back a lot of Haitian Creole. We have a pretty equal mix of Quebecois and different immigrant groups of Africans, Latinos, Haitians, etc (so the food is amazing!).

We are still trying to find more people to teach, so please pray that we can find them. 🙂

I love you all!

Mosiah 4:9-10

9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.